PRESERVATION NEWS
C&RL News, April 2009
Vol. 70, No. 4
by Jane Hedberg
Understanding PREMIS
The Library of Congress arranged for Priscilla Caplan of the Florida Center for Library Automation to write a general introduction to the PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata.
“Understanding PREMIS” provides an overview of the Data Dictionary’s scope and goals, without providing the level of detail necessary for implementation. This 26-page booklet explains the context for using PREMIS, the data dictionary conventions of semantic units, containers, subunits and extension containers, data model entities, events, agents and rights, and includes samples and appendices.
“Understanding PREMIS” is available at www.loc.gov/standards/premis/understanding-premis.pdf. PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata, version 2.0, is available at www.loc.gov/standards/premis/v2/premis-2-0.pdf.
ARSC 2008 conference
The Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) has mounted online audio recordings of the presentations made at its March 2008 conference in Palo Alto. Of special interest to preservation professionals are the sessions about “Digits in the Archives,” “Archive Assessment,” and “Technical Committee Presents a Primer on Analog Playback.”
The recordings are available free-of-charge in both m3u or mp3 formats at www.arsc-audio.org/conference/audio2008/.
CA Rare Book School
The California Rare Book School (CALRBS) will offer Preservation Stewardship of Library Collections as part of its 2009 summer program. The one-week course will be held in Los Angeles from August 10 to 14 and will be taught by Mark Roosa of Pepperdine University. Lectures, guest presentations, and visits to local libraries will cover preservation of analog and digital materials.
Topics will include the physical characteristics of materials, factors that affect collection condition, control strategies for those factors, needs assessment, setting priorities, science and preservation, conservation, reformatting, and mounting exhibitions.
There will be special emphasis on managing and developing a balanced preservation program that is aligned with larger institutional missions and goals.
The course costs $995, not including travel and accommodations. For more information, go to www.calrbs.org. Class size is limited to 15, so early application is recommended.
Iowa floods
The Preservation Department at the University of Iowa Libraries is mounting online information about local response and recovery efforts during the June 2008 flooding. In addition to the comments in their blog, “Preservation Beat,” there are several PowerPoint slide shows from talks delivered at various conferences.
The URL for the slide shows is www.lib.uiowa.edu/preservation/Floodsof2008.html.
iPres2009
The California Digital Library (CDL) will host iPres2009, October 5 and 6, in San Francisco. iPres is an international conference where researchers and practitioners can discuss the latest trends and innovations in preserving digital cultural heritage materials.
“iPres2009 Moving into the mainstream. Enabling our digital future” will be the sixth edition of the conferences.
For more information, go to www.cdlib.org/iPres/ipres2009.html.
Jane Hedberg is senior preservation program officer at Harvard University Library, e-mail: jane_hedberg@harvard.edu; fax: (617) 496-8344